Nothing Surprises Rose Quartz
by fishstic
Summary: One little girl, mute from a young age because of an accident that left her vocal cords scarred, tries to solve the mystery of her parents disappearance while confronting the fact that the world wasn't build for the non-vocal, Along the way she makes life long friends, several enemies, and helps at least seven people learn that polyamory is a thing.


Two things were certain when Rose Quartz opened her door that night to let her cat, Lion, in. The first was that nothing could have prepared her for seeing two police officers and a small child standing on her porch. The second was that Rose Quartz was probably the only person in the city who wouldn't have immediately assumed that the child was related to her somehow.

"Can I help you, officers?" Rose asked calmly. Honestly weirder things had happened at her workplace, especially when YD's flock of girl scouts were around.

"Are you Rose Quartz?" the officer on the left asked, their name badge read Mathews.

"I am," Rose confirmed with a nod. "Would you like to come inside?"

Mathews looked at the other officer, Davies, who nodded. "If that's alright with you."

Rose smiled and took a step back so that they could come inside. Mathews and Davies stepped inside immediately, but the small child seemed fascinated by Lion, and the fact that a cat lived in a house on the beach, and didn't move.

"What about you, little one," Rose said sweetly. "Would you like to come inside too?"

The child didn't respond but did follow Lion as he headed inside, brushing past them with his tail in the air.

Rose closed the door when the child was inside and then looked at the two officers. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Do you know Amber and Cedric Topaz?" Davies asked.

"I do," Rose said. "They work for me. Why, is something wrong?"

Mathews took out a little notepad and started making notes of what Rose was telling them.

Davies looked around for a moment then asked, "May we have a seat Ms. Quartz?"

"Yes, and please, call me Rose."

Davies and Mathews walked over to sit on Rose's lovely plum colored couch. At the same time, Rose moved to sit on her arm chair of the same color.

"We'd like to ask you a couple questions, Rose," Davies said.

"I'll answer them if I can."

"When was the last time you saw either Amber or Cedric Topaz?"

Rose thought about that. She'd have known if they didn't show up to work, wouldn't she? Not if they were working YD's department that week, which they were. "Two days ago, Amber ran a message up from one of the other departments and Cedric dropped off the weekly expense report."

"And you haven't seen them since?"

"No, but that's not unusual, they're floaters. Move between departments a lot. This week they were working under one of my coworkers, Yellow Diamond."

"We understand that, and we've already went to her. She hasn't seen them since then either," Davies said.

The child looked at them but when she noticed that none of them seemed to be paying attention to her, headed off to find a bed. She was awfully tired. After a couple minutes of wandering around Rose's house, she went up the stairs thinking the bedrooms would be up there. After going in the first door she saw up on the second floor, she found Rose's room which had in it a nice soft looking queen size bed with pink blankets and pinkish white clouds painted on the walls and ceiling. She decided she liked this room and, with quite a bit of effort, climbed up onto the bed. She crawled under the blanket and got comfortable with her head on the pillow. She was almost asleep when Lion jumped up on the bed and curled up beside her.

"So they're missing," Rose said quietly. This was greatly upsetting, Amber and Cedric were good friends of hers. She'd helped them get their jobs at the law firm. "Not dead, just missing."

"That's what we hope," Davies said. "There's no evidence that either of them were hurt. There's actually no evidence at all. It's like they vanished into thin air. The neighbors said they didn't even realize that neither of them had come home until their daughter approached one of them. She asked if they knew where her mom and dad were because she didn't have any more things she knew how to cook and she was getting worried."

"Their daughter, that would be the small child you brought with you, right?" Rose asked.

"Yes, her name is Blue. She speaks in sign language and we're not entirely sure if she's mute or just doesn't like to talk."

Rose nodded. It wasn't likely that the girl was deaf, she seemed to hear just fine when Rose asked her to come inside. Though there wasn't a way of knowing if she just didn't talk or actually couldn't. "Why did you bring her here?"

"You're her godmother," Davies said.

Rose nodded even though she didn't remember ever meeting the small child before. She'd agreed to stranger things in college. "So she needs to stay with me now, right?"

"That's how it should work. She doesn't have any other family," Davies said.

"I'd be happy to take her in." Rose smiled then looked over to where Lion's food dish was. That was where Blue had been standing when they sat down, but Blue wasn't there. "Excuse me for a moment officers." Rose stood up and walked down the hallway, peering into rooms trying to figure out which one Blue had wandered into. Not finding her, she looked upstairs and found Blue asleep on her bed and smiled, then went back to the living room. "Would either of you like some coffee? Or water? Poor little Blue fell asleep on my bed. She must have been pretty tired."

"Actually we have to be going, we need to look around her house and see if we might be able to find any clues. We'll send an officer back tomorrow with some of the little one's things," Davies said.

"No problem, I hope you find something useful," Rose said as she shook their hands while they left.

When they were gone she flopped back down in her chair for a moment and shook her head to try and clear it. She was having a hard time believing that Amber and Cedric were just gone. And that they left her with their child. She didn't even know they had a child until today. It wasn't hard to believe that they did have a child, but she was rather annoyed with herself that she'd never thought to ask.

A few minutes later Lion came back into the room and jumped up on the chair with her. Meow.

Rose smiled at Lion, he always knew how to cheer her up. "Come on Lion, let's go get some sleep, I'll have to get up early to find someone to babysit Blue while I'm at work."

The following morning was probably the most hectic Rose had ever seen, even more so than when YD surprised her at work with a 'take your girl scouts to work' day. Sixteen phone calls and twenty-five emails later, Rose had no babysitter, nor could she understand what Blue was trying to ask for. The sign she was making was not something Rose remembered from her ASL classes in college. For a moment Rose was worried that she was going to have to call in and say she wouldn't be at work. That was something she'd never done before.

Blue however didn't like seeing Rose worry about anything, so she pointed at the word babysitter in the email that was up on Rose's laptop and picked up the phone. She smiled at Rose and dialed the number to her old babysitter, Pearl. She knew it by heart because sometimes she had to dial it for her neighbor so they could get a babysitter. Blue handed the phone to Rose and signed that 'Pear will babysit'. Poor little Blue didn't realize she'd mixed up the signs for Pearl's name and her nickname.

Rose however was slightly confused by that. She didn't understand how a pear could babysit anyone, it was fruit. She almost laughed when the girl on the other end answered.

"Hello, this is Pearl."

"Hello, Pearl. My name is Rose Quartz. I was told that you do babysitting," Rose said.

"Who told you that? I mean I do, but I'm curious. I've only ever babysat for my neighbors, the Topazs, and my cousins." Pearl was almost annoyed, she'd hoped she wouldn't have to do anything today. But the voice on the other end sounded so sweet that she couldn't really be mad. Maybe the Topazs told someone they worked with about her and how much their daughter liked her.

"Blue Topaz told me." Rose decided to leave out the part where Blue had mixed up the signs. "I'm her godmother, and I was wondering if you might be willing to babysit her."

Pearl nearly dropped her phone. If Blue was with her godmother, then that had to mean that something had happened to her parents. When she regained her composure she asked one simple question, "What happened to her parents?"

"They're missing," Rose said. Pearl sounded really worried, she must really like them.

"Missing? That would explain the police cars," Pearl said offhandedly. "Do you want me to babysit her at your house, my house, or does it really matter as long as she's safe and back with you by a certain time?"

"As long as she's safe and happy. It doesn't really bother me what the two of you do when you're babysitting her or where you babysit her at," Rose said with a smile.

"Well I'd promised one of my friends that I'd meet them and their moms at the mall a little later today, you wouldn't mind if I brought her along would you? She's met them before," Pearl said.

"I don't mind, I'll even leave her with some money to spend there," Rose said with a smile. "Actually speaking of money, how much should I pay you, and if I left some money and a list with you could you take Blue grocery shopping? It's okay if you can't, it's just that I won't be home until like seven tonight because of an important meeting and I don't want Blue to go hungry."

Pearl thought about that. "I'll have to ask my mom. She's in charge of how long I get to use the car. It'll only take a moment." Pearl ran downstairs to ask her mom, Nacre, if she could use the car to take Blue grocery shopping for her godmom. Which prompted the question, 'what happened to her parents' and the response 'I'll explain before I leave' before Nacre agreed to let Pearl use the car all day. Pearl returned to her phone call. "My mom says that's fine and I'll have the car all day. Also my usual rate for babysitting blue is five dollars an hour or 40 dollars a day if it's more than 12 hours."

Rose thought for a moment and did the math in her head, it was six thirty am now, and she needed to be at work at eight. "I'll give you 75 dollars plus whatever change you get from the grocery shopping if you can be here in half an hour and watch her until seven thirty pm."

"I'm not sure I can accept that much," Pearl said. "But I can be there then."

"We can discuss it when I come home if that's what you'd prefer," Rose said with a smile.

"That's fine with me, see you and her in half an hour..." Pearl almost hung up before she realized she had no idea where Rose Quartz lived. "Where am I being in half an hour?"

Rose told Pearl her address after they both hung up headed to the kitchen to make Blue some breakfast.

Meanwhile, Pearl was trapped in her kitchen by Nacre.

"You said you'd tell me what happened to Blue's parents when you got off the phone," Nacre said. "Don't try running off before you tell me or you'll forget. I know you will."

Pearl sighed. "I'm not entirely sure what did happen to them. According to Rose, they're missing. That's all she said. I think that might be all she knows. If you want to know more, I bet you could ask the police officers at their house."

"And how long are you going to be watching Blue today?"

"Until seven thirty pm," Pearl said.

"I swear you spend more time with that child than her parents ever did," Nacre said. "That's not necessarily a bad thing, just not normal." She moved back to finish making her breakfast.

"I hope for her sake someone finds her parents," Pearl said finally able to leave the kitchen and get ready for the day.

"I hope so too. And I really hope they're alive when they're found."

Blue watched as Rose fixed what was a normal breakfast and tried to remember the sign for allergic. She needed Rose to know. Pearl knew. But Pearl wasn't here right now, so her knowing didn't help. The last thing in the world Blue needed was Rose trying to get her to eat eggs, but Rose had no idea that she was allergic to them. Blue could have just written it down for Rose, but Blue didn't know how to spell allergic.

Blue was saved by a knock on the door.

Pearl hoped that Ms. Quartz wouldn't mind that she was early. She just wanted to see Blue again and make sure she was okay. That and she'd convinced one of the officers at Blue's house to give her some of Blue's clothes and shoes.

"Blue could you answer the door for me?" Rose asked of her, she knew Blue didn't know how to use the stove and didn't want the eggs burning or Blue getting hurt.

Blue nodded and ran to the door and opened it.

"Blue," Pearl said happily. "I brought you..." she stopped when she noticed that Blue was trying to tell her something.

'Pear, eggs. Rose makes eggs. Tell her about the eggs Pear.'

Pearl gasped and called out, "Ms. Quartz may I come in. It's Pearl, the babysitter."

"Come on in, would you like some breakfast?" Rose called back.

Pearl handed Blue the bag with the clothes in it and headed back to the kitchen, following the smell of eggs. "About breakfast, Ms. Quartz, Blue is allergic to eggs."

Rose nodded. "Then perhaps you'd like to share these eggs with me, and we can make her some bacon, toast, fruit. Something. Maybe she can tell us what she wants." Rose turned the pan off and removed it from the heat, then turned around and smiled at Pearl.

Pearl had to force herself not to stare. But that didn't stop her from instinctively complimenting her. "You're so pretty."

Rose chuckled. "So are you."

"How did someone like you end up being Blue's godmother?" Pearl asked. She wasn't sure what to talk about but certainly anything that kept her from embarrassing herself in front of Rose would be good.

"To tell the truth, I don't really remember. It's probably something I agreed to thinking it would never be needed," Rose said. "I was best friends with Amber when we were in college. Some bad things happened to her and she had to leave before she could complete her degree, but we remained good friends. I helped her and Cedric get jobs at the place I work for when Cedric lost his accounting job. Come to think of it, that might have been when I agreed to it. Either then or before she was even born. I do remember one night in college she came back to the dorm and she was crying, I think she'd been drinking, and she asked me before she fell asleep if she had a kid and something happened to her, if I would make sure the kid was safe."

Blue listened from the doorway. She'd never heard anyone talk about her mom before. Pearl didn't do it because she knew that Blue liked hearing about people she never got to see, like Nacre. No one else did, because Blue wasn't generally around other people who knew her parents. She had no idea before that moment that Rose didn't know before last night that she was a godmother. Suddenly she felt like she was being a burden on Rose. She wasn't quite sure why she suddenly felt like maybe Rose didn't want her there, but she did.

"If you don't remember agreeing to be her godmother, why did you agree to take her in?" Pearl asked. She wasn't sure if that was a good question to ask, but she was curious. Without her parents, Blue had no real family. She would have been turned over to child services if the police didn't somehow know Rose was her godmother.

"I hope that her parents will be found safe and sound. I want her to be able to go back to them when that happens. I can't even begin to imagine how hard that would be if the government were involved. I want Blue to be able to grow up safe and happy, in a place where people love her. I want her to have a home, and a family, and to live every day knowing that someone loves her no matter what. I want to be that someone for her if her parents can't. And even if they could I would still want her to know I love her no matter what."

Blue stayed in the doorway not wanting them to stop talking. She was really conflicted about this whole situation. She couldn't tell if Rose was lying. She could always tell when Pearl was lying, her hands twitched. She could tell when her mom was lying because she wouldn't look the person she was lying to in the eye, she'd look slightly to the left. Her dad always began his lies with 'listen here' and what few times he didn't he scratched his nose, almost like lying made him itchy. But she had no idea how to tell if Rose was lying.

"Are you aware that she starts Kindergarten in a few weeks?" Pearl asked.

"I am now," Rose said then looked at the clock. "I have to leave for work in 20 minutes. We can talk as long as you like about this later, but I need to get ready and eat my eggs. That reminds me, you never did say if you wanted some too."

"I'm good, I ate before I left. I'm going to help Blue change into something for today," Pearl said then turned to go get Blue but started when she saw Blue standing in the door. "Blue, how many times have I said to make some kind of noise when you come up behind someone? You're like a cat. Wait, how long have you been standing there?"

'Does she really want me here?' Was Blue's signed response.

"Oh Blue, of course she wants you here," Pearl said. "Who wouldn't want you?"

'She didn't know I existed before last night. How do you know she really wants me?'

"Blue, she has a heart of gold," Pearl said.

'You just met her. I don't believe you!'

Pearl looked to Rose for a moment but neither of them really knew what to say. Pearl thought for a moment then said, "Your mom would never leave you with someone she didn't know for sure would love you and take care of you."

'What do you know about my mom? She was never around much when I was awake.'

"Blue your mom loved you very much, that's the reason she wasn't around," Pearl said.

'That doesn't make sense.'

"She wasn't around because she was working to make sure that you had money and could be happy," Pearl said.

'I don't need money to be happy. I didn't want money. I wanted her.'

Pearl sighed and shook her head. "It's not that simple Blue. Things cost money. Things everyone takes for granted, like electricity, water, food, clothes, your house. They all cost money. You wouldn't have been very happy without those things."

'Why did mom and dad both have to work? Why couldn't it be just one of them?'

"Because life isn't always fair Blue. They only wanted what's best for you. Rose wants that too, that's why she called me," Pearl said then smiled and walked over and pulled Blue up into a hug. "Let's get you into something nice today. We're going grocery shopping, then later we're gonna go meet Ruby, Sapphire, and Garnet at the mall."

"Ruby and Sapphire?" Rose asked finishing off her eggs. "That wouldn't happen to be Ruby and Sapphire Ottu, would it?"

Pearl turned to look at her. "Do you know everyone in this town?"

"Not everyone, no. Just a lot of them. Ruby, Sapphire, and I went to school together," Rose said with a smile. "If you wouldn't mind, ask them to stop by sometime."

"No problem," Pearl said. "Now let's go Blue and see what the nice police officer picked out for you."

Blue smiled and signed, 'Was it M-A-T-H-E-W-S?'

Pearl shook her head. "No it was Jackson. When did you learn how to read so well? Rose, which Room is Blue's?"

"The bedrooms are upstairs. When you come off the stairs, the door on the left is my room and down the little hallway the next door on the left is Blue's room, unless she wants one of the other rooms. That's just the only one other than mine with a closet of its own."

"Alright," Pearl said and set Blue back down. She walked with Blue upstairs to the bedroom.

The room itself was pretty spacious. There was a twin size bed with purple blankets and a dresser against the right wall. Under the window on the front wall, facing away from the beach, was a desk. A little to the left of the desk was the closet and beside the closet on the left wall was a mirror and a shelf for things. There was also a bookshelf on the wall with the door.

'Do you think we could convince Rose to make it have lavender clouds like her pink ones?'

"I'm not sure what you mean, but I'm sure we could convince Rose of that no problem," Pearl said with a smile. "Let's lay the clothes out on the bed and see what you've got."

Ten minutes later, Blue was dressed in red shorts and a dark blue shirt with a yellow star on it and was putting on her tennis shoes when Rose appeared in the doorway in a nice looking whitish pink dress.

"I'm about to leave, but wanted to give Blue a hug before I left," Rose said.

Blue smiled and ran over, nearly tripping on her shoe laces. She hugged Rose fiercely, almost as though she wanted that hug to tell Rose she was glad to be there with her. When she let go of the hug after Rose hugged back she signed, 'Before you go. Could you tie my shoes for me?'

Rose smiled and chuckled. "Of course, Blue." She knelt down and tied Blue's shoes for her. "That's not too tight is it?"

Blue shook her head with a smile. 'Thank you,' she signed

"You're welcome Blue," I have to go now, but if you need anything from me, like well, I'm not sure, but this," she handed Blue a little piece of paper, "is my phone number. Just have Pearl give me a call, okay?"

Blue nodded.

Rose smiled and handed Blue two envelopes. One had "Blue" on it and the other had "Pearl". She then stood and turned to leave. "Open those when I'm gone okay?"

Blue nodded again then ran back over to the bed to let Pearl brush her hair. When Pearl was done and they heard the car leaving, Blue handed Pearl the envelope with her name on it. Pearl looked at it and then opened it.

Inside was a note that Pearl had to read three times to make sure was right. "Two hundred should be enough for groceries, right? The other hundred is your pay and I want to ask that help me learn to care for Blue if you can. I've never had to care for a child before and I'm not quite sure how."

When Blue opened hers she would have squealed had she been vocal, and old enough to really understand how much money Rose had given her. But to a five year old, five dollars is a lot, two hundred is infinite.

Pearl looked over to see what was in Blue's envelope and nearly dropped her own. "She gave you that much?"

Blue nodded but wasn't even really sure how much 'that much' was considering she couldn't count money yet.

"Just who is Rose Quartz? How does she have so much money?" Pearl muttered.

Blue smiled and got up off the bed then ran over to Rose's room and picked up a business card off Rose's nightstand. She brought that back to Pearl who read it aloud.

"The Diamond Authority. Lawyers for all your law needs. Rose Quartz, Criminal Lawyer, Civil Litigation Lawyer. Phone number: 555-529-7673"


End file.
